Person of Interest

Residence: Island Walk, Naples. Age: 17. Years golfing: Eight. Latest win: International Junior Golf Classic at the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, June 2005. Dream win: British Open. Biggest letdown: Squandering a commanding lead at the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships. "It was the hardest loss because I knew I had it." Chief inspiration: "My golf coach, Kathy Padgett, and my family. We moved here from Ecuador when I was young; we didn't have much money. My parents made a sacrifice, money-wise, just so I could play the game." Favorite course: Calusa Pines [in Naples]. "I played it twice, and it's absolutely beautiful." Best shot: Punch shot. Golf hero: Vijay Singh. Hero off the course: "My dad. His first job was sweeping out a factory; now he has his own hurricane shutter business [Advanced Hurricane Technologies and Imagen USA]." Future plans: Will attend Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, where he'll play golf, take an engineering program and "see what happens." If he weren't golfing, he'd be: Studying religious philosophy. "I'm not a particularly religious person, but I like to know what's out there."

-Hobart Rowland